Category → Kayaking
Kayaking the Hackensack
With the rain we’ve recently had, we decided to try to push North on the Hackensack from Blauvelt to the foot of Lake DeForest. In the past, there hasn’t been enough water to make the trip.
We kayaked from where the river goes under the road at the bottom end of the frame, and headed North under Route 59 and the Thruway, stopping just South of Old Mill Road at the top of the frame:
At the Northern terminus of the trip. Old Mill Road bridge is in the foreground, and Lake DeForest’s dam is in the background:
Going under the Thruway:
The water was really moving in spots, and shortly after this photo was taken, Trish capsized after being swept under low-hanging tree branch. We managed to get her kayak emptied and she got back in.
We had to portage in a couple spots: 
Urban background:
High adventure!
Kayaking with the Lazars
We took the Lazars kayaking in Haverstraw, in the same spot we’ve kayaked many times. There were 11 of us, and our 6 kayaks, two of which are tandems, have a total capacity of 8. Moshe took two of this kids in one tandem. Mechel and Yaakov went together in the boat Zayde built for Baila:
The flotilla:
Baila stylin’ in her kayak:
We watched a train go by:
I think they’re up to no good:
A nest in the marsh:
Baila cooling off:
On the way back, Chani and Baila gave their kayaks to Mechel and Yaakov, and they took Zayde’s boat:
Neener neener Tattie:
We all had a great time, but Zayde’s boat was a bit outclassed by the kayaks. Still, not bad, it floats!
Family kayaking, Baila’s first solo!
We kayaked the area north of the Haverstraw kayak launch. It was Baila’s first time with her new Perception Acadia Scout. It’s the same model and color scheme as Mechel’s.
Here’s Baila paddling (Mechel is in the distance):
Unpacking:
The paparazzi:
Bubbe with Baila:
A train went over the bridge under which we had kayaked:
I’m all that with my biking gloves:
Kayaking with the Oppenheimers
We took the Oppenheimers kayaking this afternoon. In addition to our 5 kayaks, we rented 3 from EMS. We had 6 on the trailer and two on the roof of the van.
We put in at the Haverstraw kayak launch:
Unfortunately, we went out during a falling tide. We reached a large bay, but in spots it only had an inch or so of water. I ended up getting out and pushing everyone out of the bay. Here’s my kayak sitting on the bottom:
After breaking free:
Kayaking in Blauvelt
We’ve been here before, and this time, we came with Bubbie!
The water was quite a bit lower this time, so we couldn’t paddle in amongst the trees. Even the main channel was a bit difficult to push through, as it was filled with lilypads in places.
We saw an immature Bald Eagle hanging around:
…We also saw Herons, Egrets, and Swans. I kayaked all the way to the southern end of the marsh:
Hearing the swan’s wings cut through the air was neat:
Rafting up on the way back:
On the way back, we saw our bald eagle grab a large fish out of the water, only to be chased by what appeared to be an osprey:
An Egret in the distance:
Working our way back:
Wallkill River kayakin’
We went to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge today for a little kayaking.
We put in at Bassett’s Bridge. Not realizing that the river flowed North, the plan was to kayak “downstream” to the Route 565 pullout. I would then ride my Brompton, which was in my kayak, back to Basset’s Bridge to get the van, and drive down to the Route 565 pullout to pick up the family and kayaks.
Mechel and Baila prep Mechel’s kayak:
We had a tough time getting the kayaks into the water. The bank was pretty steep, and when wet the clay bank became slippery like, well, clay. I slipped in, and If not for my Neos, I would have been really wet.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that the river flows North, not South. Oh well, we just paddled north. Turns out the Walkill flows at roughly 0 miles per hour. So I brought the bike for nothing.
It was a sunny day out on the river:
Go Mechel!
Baila poses for her adoring fans:
Family meeting:
I’m not sure what Trish is doing here, but I think the caption should be “why you little-“
Random Mechel paddling:
Me with the Brompton. Probably the first bicycle to be given a kayak trip on the Wallkill.
I think we ended up getting about halfway from Bassett’s Bridge to the Route 565 pullout before turning around and heading back. We were sticky and dirty by the end, but it was fun!
Kayaking in Blauvelt
We went kayaking this afternoon. We put in off the bridge that’s under the “H” of “Western Highway”.
We then paddled under the bridge and paddled south in the creek. At the top of the oxbow, we broke out into the “bay” to the north:
We then headed west into the submerged forest. We found the shallow channel that heads north towards the “59” marker on the map:
Next we headed south into the large open area. We didn’t go very far south, though. We spent most of our time trying to get close to the swans:
It was getting late, so we paddled home:
Family Kayaking in Piermont
Today we did more or less the same route that I did with Jason a while back. I ended up getting some great Heron shots:
Here’s a closeup of the first one in the above series:
We paddled out into the Hudson:
After exploring the southern estuary, we returned to Sparkill, where Baila and Mommy splashed each other:
Looking at Google Maps, I noticed a boat on Sparkill (on the right) that was darker than the docked boats on the left side of the image. I suspected that the boat must be wrecked and sitting on the bottom of the creek:
After coming back in from the Hudson, we found the boat:
At the end of our trip, we ran into a Giant Egret:
I asked Trish to get close so it would take off so I could get some pictures of the bird in flight. He refused to be intimidated:
We had a great time!
Sparkill Kayaking
Jason and I went Kayaking tonight. We’ve gone on a couple adventures together before. See here and here.
Here’s our route map. We stared on Sparkill, in Piermont, NY:
We paddled downstream on Sparkill towards the Hudson. Along the way we spotted a Heron:
Eventually we got out to the Hudson and paddled south to another little creek. We tried going around the oxbow, but we ran out of water about 75% of the way around and had to paddle back out. It was so shallow that we were getting stuck on the bottom. The tide was going out, and I was worried we were going to have to walk our kayaking back out through the muck. Thankfully, that was not the case.
We paddled on as the sun began to set:
After going as far as we dared, we raced back out on to the Hudson. Here’s Jason with the Tappan Zee bridge in the background:
The water on the Hudson was a bit choppy, but nothing we couldn’t handle. What fun!
Kayak Camping on the Delaware River
The last time we went kayaking, Trish said she would like to try a multi day kayaking trip. Last Wednesday, we decided we would try a two day trip on Memorial Day weekend. A local kayak outfitter recommended the Delaware River.
After consulting the map, we decided to try a trip from Dingman’s Ferry to Poxono Access. If you have Google Earth, here’s the route.
By the time we got the car packed on Sunday, it was pretty late. I had bought a bozen or so dry bags to store our stuff, and I managed to fit a 30 and 20 liter bag behind the rear seat, and a 30 and 20 liter bag up front. The kayaks were so heavy we could barely carry them down to the river. I was afraid we were going to sink, but it worked out just fine.
We paddled down the river as sunset approached. Here’s Baila and Trish in their boat:
There were some Class 1 rapids that were not on the map – I suspect the river is a bit lower than usual. Mechel and I hit a 3 foot wave that got both of us a bit wet.
We saw a Great Blue Heron on the bank:
Baila directs traffic:
There were a few folks fishing:
We then saw another heron:
The sun set before we got to Buck Bar:
Finally, we got there. We could not find the sign that marked the campsite, so we paddled back up the other side of the island before giving up and settling on the clearing on the south side. We set up camp, and I rigged up a tripod to support our flourescent lantern. I used my camera tripod to support our gas lantern:
We had La Briute meals for dinner. Yum! There were lots of light-loving bugs:
The next day, I woke up around 5:30am. It was quite foggy out:
Sunrise:
Driftwood amongst the groundcover:
Eventually the rest of the family got up. We found some caterpillars:
A quick family portrait:
We got underway around 9am. It quickly got quite warm – it would be a muggy 93 degrees by day’s end.
We found a nice spot to land for lunch and went up into the woods:
Kayaks on the other bank during lunch. We were the only overnighters on the river as far as I could tell:
While going around Depew Island we spotted an immature Bald Eagle:
And a mature Bald Eagle just north of Poxono Island:
We got to the pull-out around 2pm. Mechel and I drove the van we had left at Poxono up to Dingman’s to get the car. We took the car back to Poxono to get the Kayaks. If we do this frequently, we’ll buy a second set of HullRaisers for the van. While I loaded the kayaks, the kids played in the water:
We then drove to Dingman’s to get the van and drove home. What a trip! We will definitely be doing this again.